Tonight I cooked my favorite dish from my childhood: it’s a Filipino recipe called “adobo”. Sam Sifton at the New York Times did a great article on the differences between different adobo recipes, as well as sharing an adaptation of Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan’s adobo recipe from Purple Yam, a Filipino restauarant in Brooklyn.

I decided to give Sam’s version a whirl — although coconut milk sounded like crazy talk, the idea of a thicker sauce addressed my only frustration with the recipe that I grew up with — the inability of the delicious (but brothy) liquid to stick to the rice.  Results? Have a look:

I’d forgotten how much I love the smell of vinegar and garlic gently simmering on the stovetop — all the better on a chilly winter evening. And even though cooking the chicken three times (stovetop, broiler, stovetop) sounds like overkill, it is absolutely worth the hassle.

Great recipe, although in the spirit of the above article,  I’m gonna play with it a little more to see what happens (maybe I’ll swap in some chicken stock for the coconut milk and trade some of the vinegar for lemon juice from the tree in the back yard.)  Stay tuned…